I’m only annoying towards Oji-san’s daughter

Starting on the morning of the
following day, I became Mashiro’s love servant. Like I had a collar
around my neck, I waited beside the school gate every morning for
Mashiro to arrive. Every day, I skillfully reached out to take the
bookbag she was carrying when she finally arrived. I freed Mashiro’s
lovable hand from this burden she was carrying. I simply wanted her
to enjoy her commute to school.

“…………”

Mashiro for her part was probably
overflowing with emotion because of my actions, since she always
remained silent until we entered the classroom.

Once it was time for lunch, I went to
the school store to buy a supply of three rice balls. I prepared one
by pouring tea over it, and served it to her together with the tea.
After thoroughly investigating her, I found out that this was one of
her favourites.

“…………”

When the chime rang to notify us that
classes had ended, I went over to kneel before Mashiro’s seat and
presented my back to her. Like that, her personal human-powered taxi
service was complete.

“…………”

Apparently, my dedication as a love
servant moved even this poisonous snow queen so much that she
remained silent, her thin arms softly shaking.

“…H-Hey…! Come… Here…!”

“Yes, my queen.”

Mashiro grabbed me by the nape of my
neck and dragged me into the hallway. She led me into an empty
storage room, pushed me against the wall, and—

“—You’re annoying. Is this some
kind of harassment?”

She was furious.

Her tone of voice was rather calm and
composed, but I could feel the coldness and rage in the depths of her
voice.

“It figures~”

“Why are you saying that like it’s
none of your business? Aki, you’re actually being pretty annoying
today.”

“I mean, I also think that I might be
going too far.”

“Huh? How about you die, then?”

“That’s a bit sharp don’t you
think? Mashiro-san, I would like it if you would listen to my words
from time to time.”

Actually, there was a reason for my
thorough hospitality. Changing into a prisoner of love, and turning
things around — that was the plan, 100% conceived by Kohinata
Iroha, in order to win against Tsukinomori Mashiro.

If you think about it rationally,
calling it ‘annoying’ might be an understatement. But if I were
to only do half-heartedly, I wouldn’t be able to judge if there was
any effect or not. So I had no other choice but to conduct this
operation in the most efficient way possible: Giving it all my
strength.

…Or that’s what I thought, but even
I realized midway through that this wasn’t going to work. If a boy
you didn’t feel anything for did something like this, you’d
probably call it ‘stalking.’ And what does ‘love servant’
even mean, anyway?

Well, my only saving grace is that the
guys from my class will completely disregard any weird actions of
mine, and probably just call it ‘lovey-dovey flirting.’

Are they under mass hypnosis or
something? It feels like I’m in a world where rational thinking
doesn’t exist.

—And Mashiro, who now understood the
circumstances, seemed like she softened her gaze a bit as she looked
up at me, her eyes filled with a sliver of mercy. She spoke tenderly.

“…Are you an idiot?”

“This time, I have nothing to say in
return…”

Damn it, I shouldn’t have asked Iroha
for help. This makes me remember the shit-eating grin on her face.

“Listen, Senpai. To make up with a
girl, the most effective trick is to be kind to her!”

“…Is that really all?”

“Of course that’s only the first
step. You should know that girls are rather simple-minded! Just by
being kind, you’ll remain in their heads all night, making them
unable to sleep~…Not that I would know how that feels, though!”

“So you don’t…?”

“After all, I’m still the first
love version~ But something like this should work!”

“That seems pretty lax…”

“Now now now. Just think of it as
being deceived, and do as I tell you~!”

—Yep, I had been deceived.

Garments, words, and even actions; I
did everything exactly as Iroha told me, and this was the result.
Just what I would expect from her. She really is a genius at being a
complete bother. I know that I’m also at fault here for being
deceived so easily, but she’s really quite skillful.

“Sit. Seiza.”

“…Yes.”

I was forced to sit down on the cold
floor, which was at a similar temperature as the relationship between
Mashiro and I. I was glared at from above with an equally cold gaze.
Though some people in our class would call this a ‘reward,’ for
someone like me who has absolutely normal tastes and preferences, it
was pure agony.

“Why would you suddenly do something
like that? Are you just trying to annoy Mashiro? Do you hate her that
much?

“No, you’re wrong. It’s just…
how do I say it…”

“What?”

While I was having trouble finding the
right words, Mashiro’s mood soured even more.

—Now what do I do? How do I explain
this?

I don’t want to blame Iroha. I mean,
I knew that her idea probably wouldn’t work, but I still did as I
was told, so it’s my responsibility. I was the one who made her
uncomfortable, so I’m the only one to blame here. And mentioning
Iroha’s name here is something I wanted to avoid as well.

—So how should I explain this…

While I was pondering what to do—

“Woaaaah, I spotted a lovey-dovey
couple after school~ Are you gonna kiss? You’re gonna kiss, right?”

Speak of the devil. The door opened,
and an annoying voice filled the room and my head. When I lifted my
head to check, I was greeted by a girl looking down at me, with big
breasts like jelly and bright golden-yellow hair.

“…Iroha, you! Did you come here to
be a nuisance again?”

“As the super idol Iroha-sama, I
thought that I had to see the results for myself, ehehehe~”

“Please take a good look, you idiot.”

“Ahahahahaha! Senpai’s sitting on
the ground in seiza! Isn’t this the perfect punishment for
defeating meeee? Hehehe~”

“Hmph, is that so. Is that so.
Mashiro completely understands it now,” She said flatly, with no
emotion in her voice at all.

I suddenly realized that her bad mood
had reached the breaking point, but before I could say anything—

Tap Tap Tap

Her indoor shoes tapped against the
ground as Mashiro walked towards the door.

“Mashiro is going home.”

“H-Hey wait a second? What’s wrong
all of a sudden—”

“A cute kouhai you’re close with.
That’s what this girl is, right?”

“No, we’re not close at all, and
she’s not cute, either. She just likes to tease me and is annoying
all the time.”

“Alright, you flirty couple.”

“Ehhh?!”

“Since the two of you are so close,
you came to laugh at Mashiro, right? Go die together, Romeo and
Juliet.”

Spitting out these words, Mashiro
walked away. As I watched her back grow distant, I felt that rather
than a thick wall of ice, there was now a sheer cliff of a glacier
between us.

“…………”

“Oopsy daisy… I made her hate you
even more,” Iroha stated unapologetically as she walked next to me.

“Whose fault do you think this is?”

“Hm, I’d say that it’s at least
80% Senpai’s.”

“Don’t piss me off with precise
math here.”

But I had to agree with her.

The one who Mashiro hates is me, the
one who asked for Iroha’s help was also me, and the one who
followed the plan was also me. The only thing you could blame her for
was the plan that she had come up with.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“The same thing as before… but
that’s no longer an option, I guess.”

I had no idea how to get out of this
tricky situation, so I could only let out a sigh of defeat.

“Anyways, the next time we’ll meet
is tomorrow. I’ll just have to think of something I can do before
then, I guess.”

*

“Alllllllllllllllriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight,
a newwwwwww large-sizeeeeeed TV!!!! You all had better be motivated!”

“Sir, yes sir!!!”

The flat that I’m currently living in
is set up for living alone efficiently. During my time in middle
school, my parents had to go overseas, so I found a flat where I
wouldn’t trouble my parents too much with the rent. And in order to
deter intruders, I chose the most secure floor: The 5th, or
uppermost, floor. My room number is 502. The only reason I didn’t
choose room 501 was because it was adjacent to a nearby building,
which would be a potential security flaw that intruders could
exploit. But in all the three years I had been living here, I had
never seen anybody coming in from next door, so I guess that was a
bit too paranoid of me.

Anyway, because I chose this room, I
became acquainted with the Kohinata household from next door; room
503. I even met Murasaki Shikibu-sensei, also known as Sumire-sensei,
from room 504. Ironically, we had ended forming the basis for the
‘5th Floor Alliance’ together. However, we had completely
forgotten about one possibility.

“Neeeeeeeeeeeeeext iiiiiis a
bookshelf! You aren’t that clever at all!!!”

“Sir, yes sir!”

About the fact that someday, somebody
might move into that empty room. Was that even possible?

When I arrived at the flat after coming
home from school, I was surprised to find a truck from a moving
company there, and when I went up the elevator, I met up with the
girl who had been sitting next to me in school just a few minutes
ago.

“………”

“………”

Both of us kept quiet. After all,
neither of us knew how we should start the conversation. And the
first words that unwillingly came out of my mouth were what I felt
from the bottom of my heart.

“…Hey, there’s no way this is
real.”

“Wow, what a coincidence~! Hello
there once again~!”

Iroha, who had been trotting after me
on the way home from school, poked her head out from behind my
shoulder and gave a cheerful greeting. Completely ignoring all the
tension and what had just happened a few minutes earlier. This girl
really is something else.

Still, this should be impossible. The
corner room, number 501. The one watching the movers working to bring
furniture and whatnot into the room was none other than Tsukinomori
Mashiro!

With the largest frown ever on her
face.

“Eh, what, you’re a stalker?”

“No, I live here.”

“As if Mashiro would believe that
flimsy excuse.”

“By the way, I also live here!”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Iroha stepped in front of me,
put her hands on her head to simulate rabbit ears, flapped with them,
and said those words to Mashiro, to which her face clearly twitched.

“Mashiro has been wondering for a
while, but what are you to Aki?”

“His biological younger sister!”

“Eh, Aki, you had a little sister?”

“Since I’m his friend’s little
sister, I am also his little sister, or in short his biological
little sister, so I thought that I would introduce myself as such!”

“Are you an idiot?”

“Uwaaa, so sharp! Mashiro-paisen,
comparing it to Senpai, your verbal attack power is quite excellent!
What did you have to eat for such poisonous things to be able to come
out of your mouth? I’m totally guessing Kaentake, though you
would probably die after eating those!”

Despite the cold response, my friend’s
little sister, Iroha, continued to tap on Mashiro’s shoulder,
acting friendly. Watching from the sidelines, I once more had to
realize how amazing she is. Are you the personification of a
party-goer or something? How can you be so rude to a person you’ve
barely met?

“Hey, Iroha, will you stop it
already? And also, why are you acting just like you would with me?
You act totally normal at school, right?”

“I’m the type of person to choose
the time and place, you know. I just wanted Mashiro-san to understand
what kind of position I have here~! This is the perfect way to
trouble Senpai!!!”

—Can you be any more insane than
this?

Seeing her only give a thumbs-up and
grin in response, I turned towards Mashiro and lowered my head.

“I’m sorry for my annoying Kouhai.”

“…Don’t worry. It’s her fault
that she’s so annoying, after all.”

She hurriedly averted her face while
she answered, so she probably wanted to say that it was still
troublesome. And, while looking at me out of the corner of her eye,
she continued.

“You’re her friend’s little
sister, so you’re unrelated, right? You’re living together with
someone like that. Are you a couple?”

“Eh…? Ahhh, I see, that’s where
you’re hung up.”

Since I wasn’t used to explaining the
circumstances to anyone beside the people living here, I had
completely forgotten. I guess anyone would react the same way,
considering how we had just explained it.

“No, it’s not like that. I live in
room 502—”

“And I live in 503~!”

“……Eh?”

“By the way, Ozu — that classmate I
often talk with — also lives here. He’s the older brother of this
thing.”

“Ahahahahaha! Calling me ‘this
thing’ is pretty cruel, you know~! There’s no need to be
embarrassed; just call me ‘Iroha’ like usual~”

“Eh… Ehhhh…?”

In the middle of Iroha’s useless
response, question marks were appearing on top of Mashiro’s head.
With faltering steps, she walked past us and checked the signs in
front of the rooms.

“Ooboshi… Kohinata… I-It’s
true…”

“By the way, the person living in
room 504 is actually Sumire-sensei.”

“W-Why is everyone gathered here…?”

“It’s a total coincidence, as
absurd as it may sound.”

“Ehhh…”

She’s making an expression of
complete distrust. But it’s not like I don’t understand where
she’s coming from. I probably would’ve had the same expression if
I was told that everyone I knew from school would be living in the
same place.

“Huh?”

Her face returned to a more serious
expression, and she started muttering something to herself in a quiet
voice.

“So maybe… ‘5th Floor
Alliance’… no, wait…”

“What are you whispering to yourself
about?”

“………”

Without answering my question, Mashiro
continued to think about something while making a face like a
researcher. Though I didn’t know what exactly that expression she
was wearing meant, her cheeks were slightly flushed for some reason.
Finally, she turned around and pointed her finger at me, and then at
Iroha.

“Aki is… annoying. Kohinata… san
is also annoying. Everyone in this environment is annoying.”

Like she wanted to deny us any chance
to respond, she turned her back to us.

“Don’t get too familiar with
Mashiro. Even if we are neighbours.”

“Hey, how about we try to be a bit
more friendly with each other? That way, everything that comes after
this will be easier for us… Guho?!”

“Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeext is the
refrigeratoooooooooooooor! You all, you better work hard!!!”

“Sir, yes sir!”

As Mashiro was about to walk back into
her new domain, I went to chase after her, only to bump into a wall
of muscle. As I was swallowed up in the oncoming sea, Mashiro’s
back disappeared further and further into the distance.

“Shit, she has the nerve to use the
movers to her advantage.”

“Those excellently motivated
Shironeko boys are getting me excited~! According to Iroha-san’s
research, around 90% of the Shironeko boys are muscle fetishists, and
they’re searching for fresh meat with the thin bodies of the
neighbourhood~”

“I didn’t need that kind of
knowledge…”

“I’m sure that if Senpai were to
strip, you might even become their target~!”

“Can you stop talking like you know
how I look when I’m naked?”

“It’s because I do know. How often
have you come back from the bath with just your underwear? Though you
immediately closed the door, that one millisecond was enough for me
to engrave the sight into my brain. I’m a genius at grasping
Sensei’s weaknesses, after all!”

“Show me your brain immediately. It
seems like I have to cut the power supply.”

“Whose fault do you think it is that
I’ve awakened to that?” I asked. “And also, stop invading my
room when I’m in the bath. Are you a stray cat or something?”

What if she hears me humming in the
bath?

“Isn’t it fine? Your body isn’t
something that you should be embarrassed about. You even have abs.”

“Only a bit. But weight training a
bit every day is pretty normal. It’s nothing compared to what pro
wrestlers or the people from the rugby club do.”

“I think Senpai’s definition of
‘normal’ is completely wrong.”

Muscle training is a part of my daily
routine. The time you waste while being hurt or sick is no laughing
matter. To make sure that I use my resources most efficiently, I made
up a rather healthy exercise regime for myself. This was after long
and meticulous research on the subject through both the internet and
several books. Ever since then, I’ve been doing muscle training
every day. It’s not like I’m using those protein drinks or
hitting the gym, but with a small amount daily training, I’ve
arrived at this physical condition. It’s probably only a bit more
muscular than a normal person’s.

“Well, that’s not really important
right now. The most crucial problem right now is—”

“That Mashiro-san ran away?” Iroha
asked.

“No, that much is fine. About that,
it was checkmate the moment she came to this fifth floor.” I showed
Iroha a confident grin.

Seeing that, Iroha’s eyes went round.

“Ohh, Senpai’s in serious mode.
It’s been a while.”

“I’m just as serious as when I
purged Murasaki Shikibu-sensei a while ago. She had a shameful ahegao
while crawling on the floor…”

“D-Devil…”

“Say what you want. I won’t let
Mashiro get away.”

I made a fist with my hand while
letting out a laugh.

When we were sitting next to each other
in the classroom, there were limits. Even if I was told to look after
her by our homeroom teacher, even if I was told to become her fake
boyfriend by President Tsukinomori, I didn’t have any measures to
deal with Mashiro’s real loneliness. However, now she’s in my
domain. She can go and curse her misfortune for closing the distance
between us this much.

“I’ll show you some real
meddlesomeness.”

“Laaaaaaaaaaaaast!!! The bed doesn’t
fit into the elevator!! We’re going in through the windoooooows!!!”

“Sir, yes sir!!!”

While the moving workers were screaming
at the top of their lungs, I had a calm, hidden smile on my face.

Since she had just stepped out of her
castle, only to become all alone, she needed narrow-minded yet joyful
people around her. Those people would be necessary to cure that
poisonous tongue of hers. I don’t care if she thinks that it’s a
bother, and I’m not going to consider her feelings one bit.

If she really wished to be all alone—

Then she wouldn’t have decided to go
to school again after being bullied. Not to mention that she even
moved away from her own safe place. She’s trying to restart her
life in her own way. She’s trying to have a fun and enjoyable
school life. Otherwise her actions wouldn’t make any sense.

That’s why there’s only one thing
for me to do.

In the most efficient way possible,
while aiming for the best possible outcome, calculate my way forward
with everything at my disposal.

Thank you for the chapter! Hm…. probably this line is the hidden confession?

“I’m the type of person to choose the time and place, you know. I just wanted Mashiro-san to understand what kind of position I have here~! This is the perfect way to trouble Senpai!!!”

Or this one?

“It’s because I do know. How often have you come back from the bath with just your underwear? Though you immediately closed the door, that one millisecond was enough for me to engrave the sight into my brain. I’m a genius at grasping Sensei’s weaknesses, after all!”

Personaly i think it’s the second one…. though why did iroha said sensei’s weaknesses when she was talking to her senpai?